Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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291. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will outline the coordination that takes place between the National Transport Authority, Irish Rail, and Dublin Bus to ensure sufficient public transport capacity to and particularly from major concerts and sporting events; if there are plans to improve this coordination for the remaining events this year and for the 2026 season; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37803/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators.

There has been significant collaboration between the NTA and operators to ensure sufficient public transport capacity is provided for major events. For example, in the last week or so, the following additional public transport services have been provided to service events on top of the scheduled transport services:

• Irish Rail provided over 100 additional services, including special train services for access to concerts in Malahide, AVIVA stadium, Croke Park match fixtures and city centre events.
• LUAS provided 58 additional tram services running over 14,000 additional kilometres. In addition to these extra services, a new timetable was introduced with an enhanced timetable which has increased the baseline services on weekends by 18% on Saturday and 16% on Sundays.
• Dublin Bus have provided numerous additional bus services to facilitate events across the city where required and they also have provided buses at the end of events to clear the crowds. For example, they operate the Concert Express service to concerts in Malahide Castle and St. Anne's Park.
• GoAhead Ireland have provided additional bus services to facilitate events in Malahide Castle, Marlay Park and city centre events.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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292. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will request the National Transport Authority to provide a detailed overview of the project plan for the Next Generation Ticketing programme, including key deliverables, milestone dates, and associated costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37804/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the development of public transport infrastructure, including ticketing and technology projects.

The NTA's Next Generation Ticketing project will provide for transformative upgrade to the ticketing system for public transport passengers in Ireland. The project will facilitate a variety of payment methods on public transport services, involving a new-generation 'Account Based Ticketing' scheme incorporating both mobile and card-based payments for passengers.

Following a competitive procurement process, in April 2024 the NTA awarded an overall framework contract for the design, supply, installation and operation of the new multi-modal ticketing system to a Spanish information technology company, Indra Sistemas, who have designed, installed and operated similar systems internationally.

In August of last year, the NTA and Indra initiated the first call-off contract to equip the entire State subsidised public transport network in the Greater Dublin Area with new validation equipment capable of accepting bank cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, QR Codes (both paper and app-based), TFI Leap Cards, and Free Travel Passes.

A huge effort is being put in by NTA to ensure that this transformational and beneficial project for public transport passengers is delivered as effectively as possible.

Noting the NTA's responsibility in the matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for a direct reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.